Pendulum || TAENNIE FF

⚔Chapter 43: Ticking in silence

A U T H O R

"Will you stop distracting me? I'm trying to save my grades!" Chase complained. Firo decided to barge in his room on a Saturday. He's been bothered by Heather's silent treatment for almost a week since she got accepted in Ink Fictions.

"Do you think they did something to her? What if they cast a spell on her or..or hypnotized her?" He worriedly asked and sat beside Chase. "What if they've threatened her?"

"What the heck? Firo, you need help. Heather's perfectly fine. She even talked to Maya and me on her way to her class yesterday about how excited she is about working in Ink Fictions. Let her live her life. It's not like her life's only revolving around us."

"You mean she talked to you? Why didn't she say a word to me for a whole week? We've been passing by each other but she would only look at me and walk away. Don't you think it's strange?"

"You think it's strange? You've been acting like you don't give a single crap about her. Heather must've felt she doesn't need to talk to you because you don't even pay attention to her," That's when it hit him. He's been ignoring her too much to the point that she didn't think of him as someone with who she can share her feelings. "Now will you let me study in peace? I saw my name at the bottom of our class list and my mother's not happy about it. You should be concerned too. You're the last one in class."

"The rankings are out?" Firo asked and quickly left the room to go and check.

The students were gathered at the main hall and they were crowding at the bulletin board. Firo squeezed his way in and looked at their class's rank. Chase wasn't lying. He really is the last person in his class. Chase ranked one place higher.

He went to find Heather's rank in her class and started from the bottom of the page to the last. He traced his finger on the names until it landed on hers. He looked at the rank beside it. "S-Second?!" He looked at the name above hers and as he expected, it was Flake's name. "How did she excel this much?"

"Firo!" Wendy called and ran towards him. "Here to see yours?"

"Yeah, it's... I wasn't really expecting a higher rank. Did you check yours already?"

"I waited for it since this morning and I wasn't disappointed. I did better this year than last year. I ranked fifth! Can you believe it?" She excitedly said.

"Good for you. Mine's a lot worse than you think. Ranking last for two years is a bummer but that's just how it is. I'll do better next time." Wendy scoffed and laughed. "Was that funny to you?"

"Obviously. Firo, you said that too last year. You ranked last in the first set of exams and you ranked last again on the second. Until when are you going to keep saying that?" Firo sighed and looked down. "No worries, though. I can study with you if you want...a-as friends?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I've accepted the fact that I'm not good with academics. But thanks for the offer, Wen. I'll see you around." Firo said and left the crowd.

He was on his way to his favorite place--the library when he spotted Heather following behind Flake. She was carrying a stack of books and Flake was writing something on a pad. He thought it would be a good time to borrow her for a second.

"Kang?" Flake asked when Firo blocked their way.

Heather heard what Flake said and leaned on her left to see him. "Firo? Hey, I forgot to hear what you wanted to say to me last time. It's been so long since I saw you."

"You always see me but you decided to ignore me every time," Firo answered. Heather blinked and looked away. "Are you really clueless or you're just ignoring me on purpose?"